Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 1:40 am Post subject: Best Places To Apply for great schools?

Hi there,

I would appreciate any advice from teachers who have been living in Indonesia, or those of you with good ideas...

My husband and I are both EFL/ESL teachers as well as Secondary School teachers. We are interested in applying for suitable teaching jobs in Indonesia. I think that we have quite a bit to offer a school, so perhaps you could give some ideas of good schools and places to find them. My husband has a MA in TESOL, a CELTA, a BA in Indonesian Languages, Business, and Asian Studies. He's graduating with a Graduate Diploma in Education (qualified to teach high school ESL, Indonesian Language, and Humanities). He's got 5+ years of EFL/ESL teaching experience which includes teaching in Australia, South Korea, and Indonesia. He's also fluent in speaking, reading, and writing Indonesian.

I have a BA in English Literature and Humanities and the Canadian equivalent of a Grad Diploma in Education (so I'm licensed to teach High School ESL, English, and Humanities), a two year nationally recognized Diploma in TESOL, and over fifteen years of teaching experience. My EFL/ESL teaching experience includes working in Australia, South Korea, and Canada.

We'd like to take a break from teaching in Australia, and Indonesia is on our list of good places to live because we like it so much. I'm hoping that our experience and qualifications would help us to find a good job, especially one that could give us a bit more of a challenge since we have done alot of teaching and feel ready to try new things. We would LOVE advice on finding a job as a couple, if you have ideas on that. My husband would love to teach in a high school, if possible, but we are open to different kinds of schools. We'd be quite interested in working in International schools or universities. We'd also love to know if there are some good recruitment sites out there that specialize in Indonesian jobs.

I recognize those are alot of questions. I truly appreciate any helpful advice that you might have, as I'm just starting this job search. Thanks again in advance!

Since you both teach very similar subjects, it may be a little difficult getting a job in the same international school. Unless you were to work as ESL teachers at a school where the curriculum is not in English, such as the Korean or Japanese International School. It's also unlikely your husband would be able to get a decent paying position as an Indonesian language teacher, as these jobs go to Indonesian citizens and the salary is relatively low ($200-400/month)

Since you are qualified teachers, you could sign up with a recruitment agency such as Search Associates, or just browse each school's website. You have just missed boat for this year though, as the majority of schools have done their hiring the 2012/2013 academic year.

I really do appreciate your taking the time to reply. Actually, my husband would apply as an EFL teacher or a Humanities teacher in an International School, but I think that his fluency in Indonesian might be seen as a plus, too. It is good to know about when the schools generally hire in Indonesia - could you share a little more information about that, too.

I've just been looking at the Search Associates web site. In some ways I think it looks excellent, and in other ways I'm concerned about how much the teacher is paying and if this recruiter really supports the teacher. I would love to know what you think about this. Perhaps others can comment, too.

All international schools in Indonesia operate on the northern hemisphere calendar. The only exceptions being the Australian International School campuses and New Zealand International School in Jakarta. Do you two have a preference for where you'd like to live? Then I can give you a list of the better schools in that region.

Search Associates is the recruitment agency that almost every elite international school uses. Most people that have used it will say it's good value for money - for the database alone.

Speaking Indonesian will send a positive message to the employer that you are passionate about living in Indonesia and acquainted with the culture. How much of an advantage that will be, I'm really not sure. But it would no doubt enhance your husband's (and to a lesser extent your) experience of living here.

Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 11:28 pm Post subject: couple wishing to work for good school

Thanks, Rayman! You gave me some good information!

We don't have any strong preference right now for where we would like to live, just a preference to work in a school that can give us a bit of challenge in teaching. We'd love to work for an international school or a national plus school, for instance. Yes, please do send on a list of the better schools that you are familiar with! I'm sure you've lived and worked in Indonesia for a while, so any of your suggestions will be great.

Regarding Search Associates - yes, it does look like an excellent service. It is just that as you look through the requirements, there are some things that raise a bit of a red flag. Search states that if you decide to leave the job before the contract ends, or even before you begin, that Search will charge you at least $1500 to be paid to them, and perhaps costs for re- advertising the position. Breaking a contract is a serious matter, and I actually believe that no one would want to break a contract at an international school in the first place. But when I taught in South Korea, I saw so many private language schools breaking contract agreements or labour codes not only for that country but especially by standards of a western country. The poor foreign teacher is left with no labour laws that they can easily enforce because they are in a different country. I think that there are good ways to work things out, and I don't really think an international school would have a bad reputation, but still, it bothers me that a recruitment company wants to be paid money for a dispute between a teacher and a school. I would never enter that kind of agreement in Australia or Canada, and we have unions here that protect teachers. So I think it is a bit daunting.

I've been looking into some other similar recruiters, and getting ideas. Happy to pass what I'm finding out along! I also wonder if just applying directly to the schools would get good results, too.

Schools need to go through a screening process to be accepted by Search. I think you'll find there's also repercussions for the school if they break the teacher's contract ie. compensation for the teacher. It's a good way of screening out the shady schools.

The better schools in Indonesia are obviously in Jakarta. The 2 international schools with the best reputation/package are British International School and Jakarta International Schol. Some other schools are: Australian International School and Sinarmas World Academy. Better national plus schools are: Global Jaya, Tiara Bangsa and Pelita Harapan.

Outside Jakarta, some decent international schools are: AIS in Bali and Balikpapan, BIS in Bali, Bandung International School and Sekolah Ciputra in Surabaya.

Of those schools, there's no reason why you couldn't apply directly via their website. The only exceptions being JIS and British International School who do all their hiring at job fairs or locally for last minute vacancies.

You might want to try Kharisma Bangsa. It is south of Jakarta in Tangerang, but it has several sister branches all over Indonesia. They are run by Pasiad, a Turkish Education Organization.However, it is not a religious school.

I'm spending today doing a bit of research. I've been checking out information that was posted on different discussion strings. Actually, I'm looking into a couple of recruitment services other than the big ones (for my reasons above). One is joyjobs.com (had been posted by some Davesesl people) and another is Tieoneline. So far they seem reputable.

In your opinions, do you think that applying directly to the schools is a good idea? My opinion is that you should have a really professional CV. I'm wondering how different people were able to find the better than average teaching jobs in Indonesia. Another option is, actually, to write the schools ahead of time and go to Indonesia on a tourist visa and drop into the schools with out CV's. My husband speaks Indonesian. I wonder how that might be seen by the schools.

If you're applying I wouldn't suggest flying over and interviewing locally as this means you would be classed as a 'local hire' as opposed to 'expat hire.' The difference generally being you wouldn't be entitled to annual flights home, free housing, utilities, retirement, shipping etc. The only time this wouldn't make any difference is if you apply for more lowly schools which don't offer much of an 'overseas hire' package. However, would you want to work for one of these schools?

If you're applying I wouldn't suggest flying over and interviewing locally as this means you would be classed as a 'local hire' as opposed to 'expat hire.' The difference generally being you wouldn't be entitled to annual flights home, free housing, utilities, retirement, shipping etc. The only time this wouldn't make any difference is if you apply for more lowly schools which don't offer much of an 'overseas hire' package. However, would you want to work for one of these schools?

This hasn't been my experience. I applied directly to International schools in Indonesia and interviewed in country, as I was on holiday there at the time, and still got an 'expat hire' contract with all the perks. The option of being only a 'local hire' was never suggested. It wasn't as if I was living in Indonesia as we were just over to visit my in-laws. This was made perfectly clear in my covering letter and during the interview.

I think the fact that your husband speaks Indonesian will be seen as a real benefit. My school really liked the fact that I can speak Indonesian fluently as we have a large Indonesian student body. It also helped that I had lived in Indonesia for a number of years previously so it was unlikely that I was going to break my contract due to culture shock.

All of the above agencies you have researched are good options to help you find jobs in Indonesia. Though I found it sufficient to just apply directly. Do a google search of the international/good national plus school and find the job vacancy page and book mark it. Keep checking them regularly. The bigger schools will start looking for teachers as early as November for a September start. Then apply directly with a C.V and covering letter. I'd change the first part of my covering letter to fit the school's ethos based on the information I'd found out from their website. Also the ones that I was really interested in I made sure I phoned them directly to find out more about the post. Lots of mobile phones have cheap oversea calling packages which I found really useful when applying from the UK.

I'm going to check out all these links you've provided. And thanks for the excellent advice. I actually read through one of those international school web sites and they said that many of their teachers had discovered them while on vacation - so I guess it happens.

I'm getting the feeling that the calendar of most international schools starts in September (that would be similar to Canada and the U.S., for example) and perhaps the Austalian and New Zealand schools start in February (more along the line of the calendar of schools in Oceania) - is that about right?

I'm wondering, in your experience, do you think that any international schools might hire during the school year, just the way that they do in western countries, or is it just one hiring, once per year?

Also, another question for you - I know that international schools prefer candidates with perhaps a couple of years of teaching experience in a high school or elementary school. For me, that's no problem.

For my husband, his teaching experience of 5+ years has been in EFL schools, although he's got a masters in it, and he's trained as a ESL secondary teacher, too (as well as other methods).

We're hoping that the school will consider his previous teaching experience because of his credentials and passion for Indonesian (i.e., you just put your best foot forward). I read of one school saying they do consider graduate teachers, too.

I'm getting the feeling that the calendar of most international schools starts in September (that would be similar to Canada and the U.S., for example) and perhaps the Austalian and New Zealand schools start in February (more along the line of the calendar of schools in Oceania) - is that about right?

I'm wondering, in your experience, do you think that any international schools might hire during the school year, just the way that they do in western countries, or is it just one hiring, once per year?

What do you think? Would you agree?

The timing of the school year varies slightly from school to school. If it's a 'local' international school/national plus they follow the Indonesian school calendar. They start anywhere from the beginning of July to the end of July. I believe the likes of BIS and JIS start towards the end of August. While the Australian and New Zealand schools are the end of January/ Early Feb start.

There will be one or two jobs that come up mid year due to people leaving for various reasons. However it's nothing like the frequency you would find at home. Extremely unlikely that you would both find a job at the same school mid school year.

Taking into account your husband's experience you are probably better off trying at some of the 'local' International / National Plus schools. These schools often have a large proportional of ESL students and much of the main stream teaching English teaching is also ESL teaching. They are also more likely to value his Indonesian speaking ability. They aren't a bad stepping stone into the International teaching arena.